Silentious Sentiment
by Mystical Authoress
Summary: Itsumi Momose is excited that she'll get to co-star with Ren again for a brand-new film. When a foreign actor of half-Japanese descent joins them as the anti-hero of the film, she can't help but think there's something behind his obvious lack of oral communication, something dark and, yet, personal. Can she reach out to him, and possibly help him through his hidden darkness?
1. First Glance, First Smile

**Author note: I do not own Skip Beat! I only own my OC. And this is my first Skip Beat! fic so...no flames? **

**If you're wondering when this takes place, it's definitely after the Dark Moon stuff (so about halfway through Vol. 29 of Skip Beat!). Instead of the movie (called Tragic Marker) that Ren (who acts as BlackJack in it) and Kyoko has to act as Cain and Setsuka Heel in front of the other people, though, in place I'm putting in something different, so I guess you can say it's somewhat AU, though it does follow the Skip Beat! series up until after the Goodbye Dark Moon party. Also, there is an OC, and I hope he doesn't become a Gary-Sue or whatever you call it, but I really doubt he will be one. I'm not the greatest with characterization (especially with miss Itsumi Momose, who will be the main character of this fic), so Constructive Criticism would really help here.**

**Warning: Somewhat AU, there is an OC, implied pairings (go ahead and start guessing-but as a hint, one of these implied pairings may include my OC, but it's most likely going to be onesided), violence, and possible spoilers for the Skip Beat! series up to halfway through Vol. 29.**

**Constructive Criticism and reviews would be great, and I hope you guys read, review and enjoy! Thanks!**

* * *

_**Silentious Sentiment**_

* * *

_**1. First Glance, First Smile**_

* * *

Itsumi Momose let out a quiet sigh as she read through the script in hand, the title_ 'No Need to Speak' _on the cover. She was to be starring as the main heroine, with Ren Tsuruga being her co-star in the movie. Kyoko Mogami was also acting a supporting role as Tsuruga's girlfriend (who Tsuruga breaks up with later in the movie) and eventually helps Tsuruga find Momose during the latter half of the movie. Murasume Taira, an actor who was surely determined to be as great as Kuu Hizuri, was also acting a supporting role as Momose's ex-boyfriend, who would quarrel with the anti-hero of the film...

The anti-hero wasn't present yet, though. Director Ogata had explained that the actor playing the anti-hero was finishing up a job in London, England and, apparently he was supposed to be here today. Rumours had been scattered around the cast members about the actor playing the anti-hero.

_"What sort of company is he from?"_

_"I think it's the England branch of LME...Apparently he's of half-Japanese descent, too!"_

_"What's his name? Raphael Barrett?"_

_"Yeah, that's it! I think he's about 22 or 23 years old But seriously, I've never heard that name before!"_

_"Do you think he knows any language besides English?"_

_"Doubt it. Let's hope he's a quick study at Japanese..."_

The cast members had gathered, and Director Ogata walked into the room. The poor guy looked a bit faintish, though, as his face was a bit paler than usual and the expression upon his face was calm, yet if one looked closely enough, they could see the fear in his eyes.

"Um, I apologize for keeping all of you waiting..." Ogata trailed off. "I would like to introduce Mr. Raphael Barrett, who has finally arrived from his previous job in London, England, so all of you please take a seat." Everyone took a seat quickly, and Ogata turned to the door. "Please welcome Mr. Barrett..."

* * *

The silouhette of a tall, somewhat slim figure stood in the doorway. Ren Tsuruga looked carefully.

_Is he about my height? Wait, no, he seems maybe an inch shorter or something..._

As soon as the figure took a few steps into the room, approaching the others, everyone went completely silent.

His height was intimidating enough, but his facial expression looked nearly blank, save for his dark amber eyes, glittering with with a sort of pride and menace all combined so smoothly that no one could tell which of the two emotions he was showing. His almost shoulder-length, dark brown hair was somewhat limp and unkempt, but obviously combed straight so it looked neat enough for a decent appearance. The clothing he wore was completely black, save for the grey long-sleeved shirt he wore underneath his black blazer. He gave a small nod, before casually sitting down to the left of Momose.

As Director Ogata started to talk through the first scenes, Tsuruga continued to observe Raphael Barrett. The older man just looked at Director Ogata, focusing his eyes on him before glancing at Momose. Momose glanced at him and, if Ren was sure that he had seen this correctly, the older man had the ghost of a smile on his face, his eyes lit up in a way that seemed to say, _Nice to meet you_. It was then that Raphael turned and met eye contact with Ren.

The eyes, once full of a kindness, a gentleness, instantly turned into eyes full of ice, devoid of any gentle kindness at all. Ren realized that the man was glaring at him, and even he couldn't help but shiver internally.

_What-what was that about?! _

Ren hadn't been the only one to notice Raphael's icy glare. Kyoko and Momose noticed it themselves, as well as Murasume. The three appeared to exchange confused glances. What in the world was Raphael trying to communicate to Tsuruga, if he was trying to communicate at all?


	2. First 'Conversation'

**_2. First 'Conversation'_**

"Take ten, everyone!" Ogata spoke up. "The next scene we'll do is when Momose and Raphael have their first 'conversation,' alright?"

Momose sighed as she got an iced tea from the vending machine in the hallway. Pulling the tab on the can, she took a quick sip right afterwards, thinking back to when Raphael Barrett first appeared.

He'd looked so...intimidating. She couldn't help but admit that. And he had sat beside her for the whole discussion over the scenes they were shooting for today. He didn't speak at all, he had only given glances and facial expressions, and she was sure she had seen him give hand gestures to Director Ogata earlier just after the whole discussion was done.

_I think he was using sign language...Maybe he's mute? _She wondered as she took another sip of tea. _That would probably explain it. _

At least she knew what the hand gestures meant. She had no idea what he was doing when he suddenly glared at her co-star in the middle of the meeting though, just after he had given her a friendly smile. Maybe Raphael thought Ren was staring at them or something. _He probably hates being stared at, that makes sense there..._

_He's so silent, though. I feel like he probably isn't mute, but why the sign language, then? That doesn't make sense...there has to be a reason behind it besides possible muteness..._

A tall figure standing in front of her (well, more of the sight of the grey shirt of the figure) caught her out of her thoughts. She looked up, to see the familiar foreign actor in front of her.

"Whoa! Uh...Sorry, were you, um, trying to get a drink from the vending machine!?" She blurted out, stepping out of the way. "Sorry!"

Raphael shook his head, before his hands went into a frenzy of gestures.

_Wha-? Oh, shoot-what the heck is he trying to say-_

"Wait a second!" She immediately grabbed his wrists tightly, preventing him from continuing. "I-I'm sorry, but could you repeat that...a bit more slowly!? Um...I can't translate so quickly..." She trailed off, trying to compose herself. Before she could let go of him, he roughly pulled his arms away and his right hand touched his left wrist briefly, before it came up to his mouth, covering it as a light flush of pink appeared on his face. He paused, before his hands went into another frenzy of gestures, albeit slower. Momose did her best to translate what he was trying to communicate.

_"My apologies. I use sign language an awful lot, and quite quickly as well. It's a good thing you stopped me, though I am unused to people touching me so suddenly and unexpectedly; for example, you grabbing me by the wrists to stop me from continuing. I only wished to speak with you, not get a drink from the vending machine. I felt it should be best to get to know the people I'm acting opposite the most in the film first. I do hope we can work well together, Momose-san."_

Momose gave a nod. "I see..." She trailed off. "Well, thank you, Raphael-san. I hope we can work together, too." She paused for a moment before asking, "Why do you use the sign language so much? You can understand what I'm saying, right?" He gave a nod. "Are you mute, maybe? I'm just wondering..."

_"No. I'm not mute. It's just that I can't really speak Japanese very well. I can listen and understand, but I'm still trying to learn speaking it. I know English, as it is my mother language, and I know a bit of French and German, too. Do you know any of those languages, possibly?"_

"I'm sorry, no." She responded quietly.

_"It's alright. As long as you can understand sign language, I think we should be okay with this until I learn more Japanese." _He smiled at her after stating this, and Momose couldn't help but smile back.

_He must be a really sweet guy on the inside. Maybe the whole being-so-intimidating thing was just to get in character...I mean, his role's personality does come off as quite tough and maybe cold to others on the out and actually really considerate to the people he cares for on the inside, after all..._

"...I'm just wondering...Why did you learn sign language? Was anyone close to you deaf, or was it because you thought it could help you communicate with us, even though you don't know Japanese?" She couldn't help but ask. How else could Raphael communicate with anyone here if he didn't know Japanese that well?

He shook his head. "_Much more difficult matter to..." _He paused before ending the statement. "_It's a much more difficult matter to discuss, Momose-san." _He glanced at the clock in the hallway. "_I hate to end this conversation here, but I need to get to the makeup room right now. See you later."_ He waved his right hand at her with a quick nod, before walking off.

It was only as soon as he turned the corner of the hallway that she said, "See you."

Raphael Barrett was definitely a nice guy from the looks of it, Momose figured. The tough-guy act he pulled when he first appeared probably was just nothing but getting into character. But...why the sign language? Not everyone knew it. It made sense that he couldn't speak Japanese yet, but...Surely, he could write with a pen and paper to get his word across, but he didn't use that either. Maybe he didn't know any kanji?

For some reason, she still couldn't shake off the fact that Raphael was hiding something. She didn't know what it could be.

* * *

**Author note: I just wanted to thank you guys for favouriting and putting this story on alert already! :) I really appreciate it! **


	3. Intensität

**_3. Intensität_**

It was during the break after shooting Momose and Raphael's scene that Ren Tsuruga started to observe Raphael carefully.

The foreigner was definitely a good actor, Ren could tell from watching the scene. The way he shaped his character to seem so tough and violent towards the others, yet so kind and passive towards Momose felt so real, his eyes saying the words that he never spoke.

Ren even noticed Raphael's presence even before he turned to look at him before shooting the scene. It was ominous before already (Ren still remembered Raphael glaring at him from earlier), but it was even more gloomy once he got into complete character; both appearance-wise and personality-wise. He never spoke a word, but Ren had seen him give hand gestures to Momose several times and she had simply responded back to him in the Japanese language.

It was obvious. Raphael could understand Japanese. He probably just doesn't understand it.

Before Ren could continue with his thoughts, however, Ogata's voice broke him out of them.

"Ren? We're going to rehearse your first fight scene with Raphael, now." The pale-haired director spoke, and Ren gave a quick nod before walking over to the set.

* * *

Ren took a deep breath as he tried to remember the first moves of the fight scene. _Lunge forwards, duck to avoid getting punched, and then try to stab. Right. _He looked up at Raphael, completely dressed in his costume.

The makeup on the older man's face appeared to resemble scars; some of them faded, and others more recent. He was shirtless, with more makeup applied to his chest and torso to look like bruises and more scars. A single black wing, ragged and looking like it was rotting, extended from his left shoulder blade (Ren had no idea how in the world the makeup artists and costume crew got it on). His long, dark brown hair looked greasier than normal (probably due to all the hairspray), and it looked more unkempt than normal. His dark black pants were a bit ripped at one knee, and he was barefoot.

He looked completely like some sort of scientific experiment that broke out of its cage only moments ago, ready to attack the people that created and abused him. The menacing glare, icier than usual, settled its sight towards Ren, as if ready to kill.

"Action!" Ogata called out.

Ren immediately got into a fighting stance, the swiss-army knife he held in one hand pointed towards Raphael. He didn't respond, though, and Ren was confused.

He wasn't the only one, confused, though. Ogata, Murasume, Kyoko, Momose and the others watching looked a bit puzzled as well.

_Maybe Raphael didn't hear Ogata? _Momose thought to herself. _That's odd..._

It was then that Raphael lunged towards Ren suddenly, his hands balled into fists.

_This isn't in the script!_

Ren immediately ducked the expected punch, before taking a few steps back and then lunging forwards, ready to stab-

Raphael grabbed Ren's wrist, pressing his thumb to the tendon. The younger actor flinched in pain, letting go of the knife as Raphael let go of him. The older man took a few steps back, his head tilted to the side as if he was a curious child, wondering what sort of present he received. It was then that a smirk crossed Raphael's face and he pointed a finger at Ren, before making a motion that everyone could definitely interpret.

_Come and get me, if you can._

Ren picked up the knife, lunging fowards before trying to stab again. Raphael jerked his body backwards, avoiding the strike, and then-

Ren immediately took a few steps back, barely avoiding a back aerial executed _perfectly_ by the older man. Everyone stared in shock as Raphael seemed to linger in the air, before he landed back on the ground on both feet, barely wavering from the landing.

_Is he that flexible!? _Murasume thought to himself as he continued to watch the two actors exchange attacks. _It's like he knows how to seriously fight and probably seriously injure someone. Has he been in stunt movies before or something!?_

Ren ducked another punch, before grabbing the older man's arm and was about to smash his elbow onto Raphael's arm when-

He flipped into the air, before being slammed into the ground. Raphael looked down at him, pointing the dagger at his throat.

"CUT!" Ogata finally shouted, and he quickly ran over to the two actors, helping Ren up in the process. He took a few breaths, composing himself before speaking. "That scene was...completely off script. But that was an excellent fight scene. Raphael, I should warn you to be a bit more careful, though, you could have seriously injured Tsuruga-san."

"I'm alright, Director, it's okay..." Ren trailed off, before turning to Raphael. "Are you alright, Barrett-san?"

Raphael opened his mouth, as if wanting to say something, but shut it quickly. His hands, instead, threw the knife down onto the ground and went into a frenzy of gestures.

"What is he trying to say?" Ren asked, confused.

Momose knew she had to interpret for him.

"He says he's really sorry that he went off script, and he won't do it again! He didn't mean to hurt you, Tsuruga-san, and he swears if he ever does something this 'stupid,' as he quotes, he'll accept any punishment fit." Momose spoke quickly. Raphael glanced at Momose, before giving a nod and a few gestures. Momose interpreted it for herself.

_That's exactly what I want to say. Thank you, Momose-san._

Raphael looked downwards, and Ogata let out a quiet sigh, taking a deep breath before speaking.

"Everyone...Take ten."

* * *

**Author note: By the way, the word 'Intensität,' the title for this chapter, means 'intensity' in German. Thank you readers for reviewing and viewing so far! :)**


	4. Peractorum

**_4. P_****_eractorum_**

"Mr. Tsuruga?"

Ren looked up from his iced tea to see Kyoko Mogami looking at him, concerned. "Are you alright?" She asked.

"I'm fine, I suppose." Ren responded as she sat down opposite him. "Raphael, though, I'm not so sure about him."

"He's discussing with the director right now...about the fight scene." The two turned to see Momose walk over to them and sit with them. "I guess he must have been really shaken when he realized he was doing everything off script." She paused for a moment before continuing. "I talked with Raphael just now, he was still apologizing and everything. He must have been really worried sick about the whole situation."

"I guess so..." Ren paused before finishing. "I know he's a strong actor and knew what to do originally with the fight scene. Maybe he got deep into character and improvised with his character's personality in mind."

"Yeah, but...Raphael's character is a silent, seemingly emotionless character to most of the other characters besides Momose-san's, isn't he? I don't understand how he challenged you like that." Kyoko responded, a bit confused.

"He's not completely emotionless." Ren responded. "He may seem that way, but his character loves a good thrill. He might have acted on that instinct alone..."

_And I can't help but think he's definitely familiar from somewhere. _Ren finished in his mind. _Why does Raphael seem so familiar? That way of fighting, the way he pointed at me and told me to come and get him without literally speaking...It's all so...familiar...But...who is he, really?_

* * *

Director Hiroaki Ogata knew that Raphael would be the perfect choice for the film when he saw one of the movies that Raphael starred in as the main antagonist, back in England. He'd given the offer of the anti-hero role to Raphael straightaway, because Ogata just _knew _that Raphael could pull it off. Raphael had eagerly accepted the offer, and Ogata was okay with the fact that Raphael still had some work to be done at the time, since he had to go and figure out the rest of the actors to be the other characters.

He hadn't expected a fight scene like that, though, completely _improvised_ and completely _off script_, until the part where Ren's character gets slammed onto the ground and the anti-hero pointed the knife at his throat.

And now, Raphael was apologizing like crazy, promising to stay on-script when they actually shot the scene, and completely fearful.

Thank goodness Hiroaki could understand sign language. Otherwise he would be staring blankly at the foreign actor as if he was crazy.

_"Again I apologize-"_

"Sheesh, you can stop apologizing to me so much!" Ogata finally blurted out, and Raphael stared at him, confused as his hand gestures stopped. "It's okay, Raphael. All I'm telling you is to be more careful if the fight scenes end up getting all improvised somehow. If something doesn't feel right next time during the scenes, don't hesitate to stop and we can figure things out. Alright?"

Raphael gave a quick nod, and paused for a moment, unsure of what else to communicate through the hand gestures.

Ogata himself was unsure of what to say, too, until Raphael gave a couple hand gestures.

_"__Have you ever shot a scene and felt like the situation is all too familiar for you?"_

That was a good question. In his work as director, Ogata had gone through several scenes; not just Dark Moon, but other works before that as well. But even he was unsure of how to answer, so he just simply shook his head in response.

_"Just wondering, that's all. The fight scene reminded me of a lot of things just now, really. Nothing too important." _

"Okay. You can go and get yourself a drink; you're not needed for the next scene."

_"Thank you." _With that being communicated, Raphael stood, gave a quick bow to Ogata and walked off. Ogata watched him quietly, a feeling of concern settling into his mind.

_For some reason...right after I yelled 'cut' and ran over to Ren and Raphael earlier...It was like Raphael's eyes went completely blank. Like Tsuruga-san during the car scene of Dark Moon. It was exactly like as if his soul had flown off somewhere._

* * *

_"Hey, Raphael! You made it, dude!" Two teenaged boys gave a high-five. "Kuon's not here yet, though..." The black-haired teen trailed off._

_"I'm sure he'll be here, eventually." The other replied, letting one hand slide through his long brown hair. "You know he's always on time."_

_"Yeah, good point." He grinned at Raphael. "How'd things go with that girl you like? Did Ashley let you take her out to the movies or something?"_

_"...She slapped me in the face and told me I wasn't up to her standards." Raphael muttered quietly. "And then the jocks hanging out with her started throwing things at me, so I chickened out and ran." _

_The other teen's face turned into a small frown. "Ah, that sucks. I never liked her, anyway. She hangs around those lumpy-armed guys too much that I bet her brain is nothing but half-muscle now!" He joked at the last statement. "But seriously, you need to stand up for yourself! If I were you, I would have punched those jocks' brains out and told her how stupid she was to slap you!"_

_"Rick, you and Kuon are lucky, you know." Raphael responded, his face going into a small frown as he changed the subject. "You've got Tina, Kuon's got his parents...I don't have a date, and you know my foster parents and siblings hate my guts."_

_"Hey man," Rick responded, swinging his arm around the other's shoulder, "You've got Kuon and I to hang out with. Tina doesn't mind you either, and same goes for Kuon's parents. As long as we're around, you've got someone by your side." _

_Raphael's face curled into a small smile. "Thanks...Rick."_

* * *

**Author note: 'P****eractorum' means 'nostalgia' in Latin. And yes, Hazy-chan, you're actually kind of correct about that guess. Though I do hope I can keep Rick in character, since we don't see too much of him in the manga... (insert sweatdrop here) Thanks guys, for reading and reviewing! :)**


	5. GuessworkStygian Faults

**_5. Guesswork/Stygian Faults_**

Ren sat at the nearly empty table, staring downwards at his iced tea.

He knew-he _knew _Raphael was familiar from somewhere. And not just anywhere.

Raphael might be familiar from his _past, _from Ren's teen years in America, hanging out with him and Rick, and sometimes, Tina, too-

No. _No. _Ren stood up suddenly as the thought came to his mind. It couldn't be. No way. There was no way Raphael could have traced him once he left America to go to Japan and live as not Kuon Hizuri, but Ren Tsuruga...Right? Then again, Raphael had always looked up to Kuu and Juli as if they were more of the parent figures, not his foster parents.

Ren turned to see Raphael standing beside him. The older man paused, before giving a few hand gestures.

_"Do you recognize me now, Kuon?"_

Ren gave a quick nod. Raphael just gave a quiet smile and a sigh of relief.

_"It took me a lot of hints for you to figure out it was me, didn't it? You always were terrible at guesswork...Huh. It's been five years since we've last seen each other, at least. Almost six, I bet. I still remember when your hair was blond." _Raphael ruffled Ren's hair a bit, but Ren just pushed Raphael's hand off. _"Sorry."_

"It's alright, Raphael-san." Ren answered quietly. He paused before asking, "But how did you find me?"

_"I asked Kuu where you were and he told me everything. The next day, Lory Takareda's at my doorstep and he offers to get me back to England. Of course I had to accept. I needed to start anew from a different place, just like you did."_

"You didn't have to." Ren responded. "That whole incident was my fault-"

_"No." _Raphael shook his head. _"My fault. If I had pushed Rick out of the way, he would be alive."_

"There was no way both of you could have gotten out of there! It was good of Rick to have pushed _you _out of the way before the car got any closer!" Ren exclaimed. "Otherwise _both_ of you would have been dead!"

Raphael looked downwards, before making more hand gestures. _"I'm sorry. I must be opening old wounds that I shouldn't open by simply being here on the same set as you-"_

"No. Raph, it's fine. I can take it." Ren responded. "I swore that I'm going to conquer my own darkness. I'm not going to let the past hold me back. You shouldn't, either."

Raphael looked up at Ren, the two just staring at each other for a moment before the older man made more hand gestures. _"I'm not trying to run from it, either. I know I need to win against my own past before it consumes me anymore. I must acknowledge my own stygian faults and simply do my best to embrace it all here." _He then gave a small grin. _"You know, make the 'evil chicken' become 'powerful chicken' so that it'll make us stronger, not weaker. We were both fighting a battle in the past together. We're still fighting the same battle today and together."_

"I'm not so sure about the 'together' part, Raph. Things have changed. And what does 'stygian' mean, anyway?"

_"Stygian is another word for 'hellish,' 'infernal,' 'dark,' 'gloomy;' kind of like that. And I know things have changed. I don't think **we** have, though."_

With that being said, the two turned their backs to each other and walked off.

* * *

"Hey, Kyoko! Is that you!?"

Kyoko and Momose turned to see three familiar people from work; the Ishibashi brothers, more known as Bridge Rock.

"Hikaru! Shinchi! Yusei! Um, hi!" Kyoko greeted them, a bit surprised at their presence onset. "What are you guys doing here?" She asked.

"Well, we're actually recording a few songs for this film's soundtrack in the building next door!" Hikaru responded excitedly. "Ruriko's there, VIE GHOUL is there, Sho Fuwa is there..."

Kyoko's eyes widened in shock as her mouth gaped open in horror. "D-did you just say...Sho Fuwa and VIE GHOUL!?" She asked, realizing the worst.

Hikaru nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

That was when Kyoko started screaming in terror. Momose and the Ishibashi brothers stared at her, unsure if what to do.

Yusei elbowed Hikaru. "Leader, do something!"

"Like what?" Hikaru asked back.

"I don't know, calm her down or something!"

Hikaru cringed a bit as he approached the panicking Kyoko. "Uh, Kyoko, it's okay; it's not like they're going to bother coming over to this building, right?"

"YES THEY WILL!" Kyoko screamed back. "ESPECIALLY BEAGLE!"

Shinchi and Yusei simultaneously face-palmed as Hikaru and Momose sighed. Things didn't seem good, at least in Kyoko's case.

* * *

_"What is this!?" Rick shouted as he stared at the open box of chicken nuggets. _

_"It's okay. It's _chicken_." Kuon emphasized as Raphael burst into laughter._

_"Ha! I should have known you'd figure out a way around eating Brian, Kuon." Raphael chuckled as Brian the chicken hobbled by the three. "So much for that, huh Rick?"_

_"It's not alright!" Rick scowled, shaking his head. "You have to crush the chicken and destroy it completely with your own hands, and prepared food doesn't count! And you-" He turned to Raphael, pointing at him. "Don't forget that you need to destroy the chicken in you, too!"_

_Raphael sighed. "Do I really have to? I don't know how to cook any chicken dishes yet; I only know how to cook hot dogs, and mac and cheese, and grill steak and fish."_

_Rick stared at him. "You seriously don't know how to cook chicken?" Raphael just shook his head._

_Kuon sighed. "Fine. I'll buy some chicken and we can conquer it my way..."_

* * *

_"What the heck is that?!" Rick asked as he stared at the blackened food on the two plates (one for Kuon, one for Raphael). "Coal?"_

_"Hey, it's not coal, it's omelet rice. You put chicken, rice, vegetables and shrimp in with eggs, too. I've seen Dad make it tons of times." Kuon spoke proudly as he handed Raphael his plate with a spoon. "It probably doesn't look good, since it's my first time cooking it, but it should probably taste good, right?"_

_Both Raphael and Kuon took a bite out of the dish. They both immediately ran to the closest garbage can right afterwards, intent on dumping the terrible tasting food._

_"Wait-wait-hold it! Don't throw it out!" Rick shouted, stopping the two in their tracks._

_"It's...It's _terrible_, Kuon. How did you do so terribly at something like this?!" Raphael groaned, holding his stomach with one hand. _

_"I don't get it! I made it the way Dad did..." Kuon trailed off as he stared at his horrid 'masterpiece.' _

_"Terrible, huh? Well, it's just like the enemy." Rick remarked. He then gave a more serious face. "Don't give in. Eat. It. All." He told the two sternly._

_"...Rick...If you think about it, once Raphael and I eat it, it'll eventually be absorbed and it'll be a part of us..." Kuon trailed off._

_"Well then, if it's going to be in your blood, we could probably transform this 'evil chicken' into 'powerful chicken.' It's easy." Rick responded, grinning. "All you have to do is have the girl you love cast a spell on it. You know, like 'You can do it' or 'You'll definitely win!' or something like that."_

_"Rick, I don't have a girlfriend. Ashley hates my guts, remember? And I don't have any other girl in mind, considering that scenario and all the other times girls rejected me." Raphael interjected._

_Kuon looked a bit down at Rick's remark. "Hey, what's with that face?" Rick asked, confused. "Miranda's still with you, right?"_

_"Miranda dumped me the other day." Kuon muttered in response. _

_"You got dumped again?" Raphael asked in disbelief. "She dropped you a lot faster than Lorraine did..."_

_"You are treating them right, are you?" Rick asked. "If you get what I mean."_

_"That's not a problem, but they end up leaving me anyway!" Kuon responded, sighing. _

_Rick face-palmed himself before speaking. "Okay, since you two don't have anyone to do it for you, I'll do it this time. It's handed down through my family for generations, so you better be grateful." He responded, walking over to the fridge and opening the door. "I've never done this for anyone else except Tina." He turned to Kuon. "Hey, is there anything I can put on top of that?"_

_"Ketchup." Kuon responded quietly. _

_"Good." With that being said, Rick grabbed the ketchup bottle, popped open the lid and started to squirt a word onto each of Raphael and Kuon's plates. As it continued, he spoke quietly and solemnly. "Happiness, come again. Bring good luck with you and stay by Kuon and Raphael's side, so they can be happy for all time." He turned to the other two. "You know what to do."_

_"Right." Kuon turned to Raphael. "Ready?" He asked._

_Raphael gave an affirmative nod, a grin stretching across his face. "Ready."_


	6. Truth and Confusion

**_6. Truth and Confusion_**

When Ren Tsuruga heard Kyoko's scream, he immediately assumed two things.

_One_: Reino was there, scaring the heck out of her.

_Two_: The same as the first, except _worse. _

He immediately ran towards the direction of where Kyoko's scream was echoing from, and arrived just in time to see-

Kyoko freaking out. Hikaru, Momose and the rest of Bridge Rock trying to calm her down. In total, it was complete chaos. Ren Tsuruga knew what he had to do, and he had to calm her down, quickly...

* * *

Sho Fuwa sighed as he took a sip from the iced coffee he held in hand as he walked down the corridor. He'd heard that VIE GHOUL was around to record a song or two for the soundtrack for the upcoming movie 'No Need to Speak,' and Sho had a feeling Reino would probably try to strike again and maybe-no, _definitely try _to hurt Kyoko during the time he was around. Sho knew he had to try to find Kyoko, warn her about VIE GHOUL, and...maybe tell her of what he really felt towards her. Maybe. The last part might be something he might screw up if he wasn't careful.

When he turned the corner, that was when he ran into an older man, with almost shoulder-length brown hair and dark amber eyes that glittered in the light.

And of course, Sho thinking at first that it was an attacker or something, he purposely spilt his drink all over the guy.

The older man stared at him in shock and confusion, before his hands went into a frenzy of gestures with a slightly pissed-off expression on his face accompanying it. Unfortunately, the teen singer had no idea what the heck he was trying to communicate, except for the fact that the man was probably mad at what just occurred.

"Whoa, wait, wait..." Sho trailed off, grabbing one of the man's arms. "Look, I'm sorry for spilling my drink on you, but I can't figure out what the heck you're trying to say with your hands wringing about and stuff! I don't know sign language!"

_This dude's probably one of the actors from the movie; he's probably having a break. But now I'm wishing I knew sign language..._

The other man face-palmed himself before giving a hand gesture that Sho understood, the man trying to imitate writing on paper with a pencil.

"Um, okay...one second." Sho took out a small notebook from his jacket pocket, tore out a few blank pages, and handed them to him with a pen. "Does that help?"

The older man wrote out a response. _It very well helps.__ Thank you very much. What I was trying to say goes along the lines of 'WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR!? I WASN'T GOING TO ATTACK YOU OR ANYTHING! Goodness gracious, think before you act,' but with more swear words that I thankfully don't know in Japanese yet. _

"Oh." Sho was right. The guy had been pissed off at his earlier action. "Hey, do you know where Kyoko Mogami might be?"

_...And...why? You're not trying to stalk her or anything, are you? Because if you are, I'll make sure you get the living daylights beaten out of you if you hurt her or any of the other actors-or you get your hiney kicked at the least. _He drew an angry face right after that.

"Wha-me-no!" Sho stuttered out. "It's just-"

"Reino, is that Fuwa?" Miroku's voice echoed suddenly. Sho and the older man turned to see none other than VIE GHOUL, walking down the hallway towards them.

"We meet again." Sho muttered as Reino faced him. "Let me guess; you came over here to try to find Kyoko, too, didn't you?"

Before Reino could respond, the brown-haired man got inbetween the two and started making more hand gestures.

"What the-" Reino started, confused, but Miroku came to the rescue.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Miroku grabbed the man's arms. "Can you repeat that a bit slower? I can't figure out what you're trying to say..."

"You know sign language?" Sho asked in disbelief.

"No, I only know a few words of the alphabet in terms of that. I'm just really good at charades, so I think I can figure out what he's trying to say..." Miroku trailed off before observing the man and responding to his actions. "Yes, we're VIE GHOUL. The guy who spilt his drink on you is Sho Fuwa. Oh, you were looking for us? Good, break's not over yet, Raphael-san, so we can get back to the studio and start recording. Yeah? Okay." Miroku turned to the rest of VIE GHOUL. "Guys, this is Raphael Barrett. We've been waiting to record that cover of 'Angels and Demons,' remember?"

"Oh yeah..." Some of the other VIE GHOUL members trailed off while Reino turned towards Raphael, now completely ignoring Sho.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Raphael." Reino spoke, slowly extending a hand towards him. "I'm Reino, lead singer of VIE GHOUL."

Raphael shook Reino's hand gently, before his hands went into a frenzy of gestures which Miroku tried his best to translate.

"He says it's great to finally meet you and stuff, and he's looking forward to working with all of VIE GHOUL for the cover of 'Angels and Demons.' He also says that break will be over in twenty minutes and we should probably get back to the studio soon."

"Oh...right." Reino glanced at the clock before turning. "C'mon, guys. Let's go back."

"Oh?" Miroku tilted his head to the side. "I thought you wanted to see Little Red Riding Hood..."

"No. Not today, Miroku. We have work to do, and I believe a certain person I do not wish to see is in this building today, so I'll refrain from seeing her for now." Raphael followed them, leaving a confused Sho behind.

_Wha-does he know VIE GHOUL from before!? What's his relations towards them? I don't...get it..._

* * *

_Raphael hummed a soft tune to himself as he walked down a street alley he was familiar with. Today was the day he was going to get a guitar, after saving up all that money from the part-time job he had at the gas station as a cashier. _

_"I'm going to get a guitar and play it whenever I can..." He murmured to himself. "And I'm going to get those lyrics I've been writing and put them to music. Yes..."_

_Behind him, hooded people followed, but he didn't appear to take notice. One of the people took out a knife, and lunged at him-_

_Only to get kicked back strongly. Raphael turned to face them, letting out a sigh. "Are you positively sure you wish to rob me? I don't think you'd want to do that." He spoke, taking a step back and putting up both hands, now balled into fists. "I can fight, you know."_

_"You dirty-blooded Japanese, you think you're so superior over us, huh!?" One of the hooded people shouted. "Get him!"_

_They all lunged towards him at once. Raphael ducked their punches, grabbing one by the arm and nearly throwing him in the other direction, right before ducking the swing of a knife and extending his legs, tripping another. He rolled out of the way of a stomp, and then leapt backwards, doing a complete back aerial and effectively hitting another person in the process. _

_Raphael was about to throw a punch when someone grabbed his arm and bent it painfully behind his back. Raphael let out a yelp of pain and struggled, before kicking the one restraining him between the legs. The teen groaned, let go, and Raphael took the opportunity to kick him again-_

_Just to end up suddenly getting flipped and landing onto the cold pavement, looking up at the leader of the other hooded teens. He pointed his knife at Raphael's throat. _

_"C'mon. Give the money to us, dirty-blood. Now." He growled. _

_Raphael was about to say a snappy remark back when all of a sudden, everyone heard a shout._

_"HEY! **WHATTAYA DOING OVER THERRREEEEE!" **_

_Raphael stared as the leader got tackled by a teen with black, unkempt hair, before a blond teen, obviously younger by a few years or so, started kicking and throwing punches at the other hooded ones. Raphael flipped back onto his feet, before kicking one of the gang in the chest and approaching the leader, pressing his thumb to the tendon of the hand that held the switchblade. The leader let out a yelp of pain, dropping it before trying to lunge at Raphael-_

_Only to find himself getting flipped into the air and landing on the cold pavement below him. Raphael pointed the switchblade at his throat. _

_"Leave." Raphael spoke, his tone of voice harsher than it was before. "You stupid people. You should know better than to pick a fight with me, or with anyone of my race. Go. Otherwise I might cut you and it won't be pleasant for me or anyone else."_

_The leader backed away and ran. The others did the same. Raphael let out a sigh and turned to the blond and black-haired teens that had just saved his skin. _

_"Thank you so much." Raphael started. "I honestly thought I was going to actually get my throat slit back there."_

_"Did they just randomly jump you or something?" The black-haired one asked._

_"Pretty much. They said they were going to rob me." Raphael extended the switchblade towards the other two. "You guys can keep it. I'm not sure if my foster parents and siblings are going to approve of me with a weapon in the house."_

_"Nah, I've already got my own, and Kuon here can hold up for himself without one." The black-haired teen responded, pushing the blade back towards Raphael. "Besides, you'll probably need it. There's always those stupid people running around and causing fights because they think they're better than everyone. My name's Rick, and this is my friend Kuon. Yours?"_

_The brown-haired teen grinned. "Raphael. It's nice to meet you guys...Rick and Kuon." _

_"Yeah," Kuon finally spoke up, shaking hands with him. "Nice to meet you too."_

* * *

**Author note: I haven't updated this in a while, so I apologize for the delay. Life in general kept me busy for a while, and I had a kind of hard time writing this chapter, considering I wanted to stick in VIE GHOUL somehow as well as Sho...I hope I kept them in decent character...**

**Hopefully the next chapter should be up sooner, and thanks to you guys for reading and reviewing! :)**


	7. Rūpestis

**_7, R_****_ūpestis_**

Momose leaned against the wall, taking a sip of iced tea from the nearby vending machine. For some reason, she couldn't help but think this situation was familiar.

Right. The last time she did this, she bumped into Raphael and the two had quite the conversation.

The last time she'd seen him, he was staring so blankly that she thought he might have fallen unconscious with his eyes open, right after the scene between him and Tsuruga where everything went off script. Of course, when he broke into that frenzy of apologies, Momose knew he had gotten back to his senses and translated what he meant.

For the past two days, he hadn't been around during the shoot, and Ogata had explained that Raphael was doing some other movie-related work, specifically recording a cover with VIE GHOUL and doing a few interviews that were specifically about the movie. Momose couldn't help but realize something.

She felt a little lonelier when he wasn't around. It felt weird not 'conversing' with him or not seeing him act on set. It might have seemed weird, but she couldn't help but feel a little concerned for Raphael. Perhaps the half-Japanese actor might have been feeling really terrible about the whole situation, still. Momose supposed he just simply wanted to experiment with the fight scene and hadn't expected it to get to such an intense level. That was probably it...right?

But then again, the look in his eyes right after Ogata yelled 'Cut;' it didn't look normal. It was like there was so much fear at that moment. But what was that fear for? Realizing that he went completely off script until the last bit? Realizing that he nearly injured Ren Tsuruga? Maybe an old memory came back to him? She wasn't sure.

The sight of a familiar grey shirt brought her out of her thoughts, and she looked up to see Raphael looking at her quietly, before making a few hand gestures.

_"Hello again, Itsumi Momose-san."_

"Hi." She spoke quietly, pausing before continuing. "I heard from Director Ogata that you were working on a few things for the movie soundtrack with VIE GHOUL. I didn't know you could sing!"

_"Yeah, I can kind of sing in Japanese; decently enough I hope for the soundtrack." _Raphael responded, smiling a little. _"VIE GHOUL isn't as scary as I thought they were. I kind of like their whole Gothic-looking appearance. And I can see why there are fangirls, the band members actually are really good-looking and they sound great, too." _He paused before his face was tinged a light rose pink of embarassment. _"N-n-not that I'm interested in any of them like a fangirl or anything! Nothing like that! I just think they're generally more good-looking out of most people in bands and that they sound better than most bands I've heard!" _He communicated quite quickly, obvious embarassment showing through those lines.

Momose couldn't help but laugh a little. "It's okay, Raphael-san." She reassured him. "Sorry, I just find it really funny that you're embarassed over something so small. It's okay to admire people for their talents and stuff, especially if they themselves take pride and have passion for it. Right?"

_"Yes." _Raphael paused for a moment, the embarassed blush still remaining on his face. _"I don't know how to say this without sounding really corny or anything, but I'll try to say it straight, okay?" _Momose nodded, and he took a deep breath before his hands started to make a gesture, but they suddenly dropped to his sides. He exhaled, sighing before taking another deep breath and opened his mouth, as if about to start speaking-

"Hey." The two turned to see Murasume walk over to them. "I hate to interrupt, but this question has been stuck in my mind, Raphael. What kind of work have you done?"

Raphael turned towards him, a look of suspicion on his face as Murasume continued. "I watch a lot of foreign dramas, so if you name a film or something, I might be able to remember. But I don't remember seeing your name at all in any of them. Maybe..." He paused before continuing again. "You're a stage actor and you only work on Broadway? Then I wouldn't be able to notice you." He gave an expression that seemed to be between a smirk and a fake sigh, before continuing yet again. "Sorry, I'm being stereotypically Japanese, thinking all European actors have connections to Hollywood or something big like that. But of course, there's other actors from there that are second-rate and never get a good role no matter how much they-"

"Shut. Your. Crap. Right now." Momose's eyes widened as she turned, hearing the unknown voice and having a feeling of where it might be coming from. "I've worked in all sorts of British dramas. Small parts, maybe, but they were decent ones! I've been in a couple films, and I've been in a TV series for the whole thing through as one of the_ lead characters! _I've even worked on a short film in France before!" Raphael took a deep breath. "I admit it, Murasume, you might not have recognized my name, but that was because I only changed to my real name for this project specifically. The name I used before was Raphael Elmwood, a mere stage name. Recognize it now?"

Murasume's eyes widened in shock, his mouth gaping open before sputtering, "You-you can speak Japanese you bastard-" He started, but that was when Raphael gave an even icier glare, silencing him. Momose recognized the glare, remembering when she saw him glaring at Tsuruga the first day he arrived.

"Don't. Call me. Bastard." Raphael's deep voice seemed to turn into a growl, reminding Momose of Raphael's anti-hero character. "You're so rude, you know. If you have any pride as an actor, no, a _human being, _I suggest you stop saying such degrading comments to me or anyone else you face. No one likes that. No one."

Murasume just stared at him for a moment, before running off. Raphael let out a sigh before giving a few hand gestures to Itsumi Momose.

_"I'm sorry." _Momose looked up at his face briefly as he continued. The older man looked ashamed of himself. _"I wanted to tell you earlier, but I-I wasn't sure when the right time was to tell you. I can speak Japanese now. I apologize for my behaviour just now, too. Murasume was being degrading and most likely racist, too, in my honest opinion. Someone needs to teach him a lesson." _He looked really ashamed of his own behaviour for sure, but he definitely didn't look like he would take any of the words he said to Murasume back.

Momose exhaled, before taking a deep breath and responding to him. "I understand, Raphael-san. It's okay. I would have probably told him to shut up, too." She paused for a moment before asking, "You said you wanted to tell me something important. Was it the fact that you could speak Japanese now?"

"Y-yes." He stuttered out. "But...Not just that. Something else, too..." He paused before taking a deep breath and blurting it all out at once. "I really admire you as an actor! I've seen all your work including Dark Moon, every single episode, and I swear that your acting just keeps getting better! And you make a beautiful Mitsuki, way better than the original!" He was blushing by now, but he continued anyway. "As an actor I encourage you to continue acting and that I also hope we can work on more projects like this in the future after this film is done!" He took a few deep breaths, still blushing. "I must have sounded like a real idiot there, didn't I?" He finally spoke after a moment of silence (which felt incredibly awkward for him).

"I wouldn't say idiot." Momose responded, smiling at him. "I would say more like a elementary school girl confessing her crush, honestly. And I'm touched by your words. Really, I mean it."

"Uh, really?" He nearly stammered again, but Raphael seemed to compose himself a bit more this time. She just nodded in response. "Thank you so much, Itsumi-san!" He gave a deep bow of respect, blush _still_ on his face. "I'm honoured that you are touched by such words...And...Um...Well..."

The two went into an incredibly awkward silence for about one minute. The two blushed, embarassed but unsure of what to say.

Momose finally broke the silence, blurting, "W-wait, I think tomorrow the two of us have a little recording work to do tomorrow morning, right? At the studio?"

"Oh, um, yeah!" Raphael responded, letting one of his hands slide through his long brown hair. "That one song. What's it called again?"

"Um...'Fairytale' by Guang Liang, right? Except the lyrics are changed to Japanese, so it's not in Chinese..."

"Right." Raphael glanced at the clock. "I think I'm needed for the makeup artists now, so I guess I'll see you later."

"Right. See you!" The two waved to each other before departing in seperate directions. Momose blushed a bit, remembering Raphael's stuttering lines.

_"I really admire you as an actor! I've seen all your work including Dark Moon, every single episode, and I swear that your acting just keeps getting better! And you make a beautiful Mitsuki, way better than the original!"_

_"As an actor I encourage you to continue acting and that I also hope we can work on more projects like this in the future after this film is done!"_

She'd been completely flattered by his words on the inside, though she tried to keep a straight, happy face in front of him. And then he gave this admittedly cute smile before saying,

_"I must have sounded like a real idiot there, didn't I?"_

_Oh gosh. Is it just me, or...maybe he seriously sounded like a girl trying to confess her crush? Was he trying to say something like 'I have a crush on you!' or something? Huh...I wonder...What's really up with him?_

* * *

**Author note: I don't own any of the songs mentioned in this fic. And again, thank you guys for reading and reviewing! :)**

**R****ūpestis means 'concern' in Lithuanian, by the way.**


	8. Ferris Wheel

**_8. Ferris Wheel_**

Unfortunately for Raphael and Momose the next day, their planned recording of their song had to be cancelled, due to quite a few people at the studio suddenly falling ill. Director Ogata took this opportunity to shoot the carnival scene, in which Raphael and Momose's characters go to the carnival together after much persuasion from Momose's character. The two go on the ferris wheel, and during the ride, the two would reflect together about everything that had happened to them so far.

The scene started well as Raphael ushered Momose onto the ferris wheel and the ride started. The two kept in character, laughed and smiled at the right times, but then...

The ferris wheel suddenly stopped. Everyone not on the ferris wheel went into an immediate panic. Meanwhile on the ferris wheel, Raphael and Momose had no idea what was going on...

* * *

"Uh...Director?" Raphael spoke into the walkie-talkie (he and Momose used it to keep in contact with Ogata for the specific shooting of this scene in case they needed to redo something). "What's going on?"

"Um...the ferris wheel is experiencing technical difficulties, according to the other carnival workers, so it's most likely that you and Momose will probably be stuck up there for a while. We'll try to get you to back down here as soon as we can, but in the meantime just be patient, okay?" Ogata spoke up.

"Got it." Raphael looked up at Momose. "We're stuck up here." He spoke quietly, sighing. "The director said that the workers will try to get us down so they can continue trying to fix it, but it might be a while before we get down there..."

"Oh..." Momose trailed off.

This was not good. Not. At. All. Neither one of them had any idea of what they should do, or to say about the situation...

But, before the silence between them could get any more awkward, that was when Raphael spoke up again.

"Well, it's okay. I've been stuck on a ferris wheel for over an hour and a half once." He remarked, grinning a little as he let his hands intertwine as he stretched his arms. "It happened when I was eighteen years of age during the summer, with two other friends of mine. And we were stuck at the very top of the ferris wheel, like now."

"Really?" Momose asked, gaping a bit. "It must have been really hard to be so patient and stuff. Eighteen..." She trailed off. "That's my age right now, actually."

Raphael's eyes nearly bugged out at that statement. "Really?" He squeaked out. Momose gave a quick nod. "Oh...Oh, wow. I thought-I thought you were at least around the same age as Mogami-san! Darn it, I was off by one year!" He muttered to himself. "I'm never good at guessing ages..."

"It's okay..." Momose reassured him. "I've heard lots of other people think I was nineteen or twenty, even. It's not that big of a deal."

Silence once again met them, even more awkward than ever. Both actors ended up blushing with embarassment due to the atmosphere between them.

_What should I say to Raphael? How's the weather going? I don't know what to do! Should I start off more casually? Maybe express my feelings about how we're stuck in this ferris wheel some more? I don't know! Aargh!_

_Ugh, I'm making things between Itsumi and I more awkward! Is there any way that I can make things less awkward? I mean, I could probably say some sort of pick-up line or something, but nothing too cheesy! No, I don't want to look like those people in the corny love films!_

Raphael eventually broke the silence with one line.

"It's kind a somewhat romantic atmosphere, isn't it?"

Momose stared at him. Raphael mentally face-palmed himself for saying such a corny (in his view, _very corny) _line.

"Y-you know, like in those really corny, lovey-dovey type of movies!" Raphael added swiftly, trying to explain. "Not that I'm trying to make things anymore awkward than they are-" He then literally face-palmed himself. "Okay." He exhaled quickly before taking a deep breath and blurting out, "That must have sounded really corny!"

Momose realized that Raphael was blushing even deeper with embarassment, and she couldn't help but laugh a little. _Aww...It's kind of cute, seeing this side of Raphael. One can see his serious side most of the time, but I guess the closer you are to him the more you see of him. He gets so embarassed and shy easily, and he makes things awkward for himself and sometimes others unintentionally. It's kind of cute. Wait, CUTE!? Whoa, whoa, hold on a second! _Momose hesitated, before breaking out of her thoughts and speaking. "Sorry, sorry...It's just that I really doubt anyone else expected to see this side of you, Raphael-san."

"Yeah. I know." Raphael responded, still blushing, albeit less than just previously. "I guess you can say I'm one of those sorts of people that don't like to reveal all sides of themselves until they get closer." He paused, blush dissapearing completely, as looked out the window. "But still, the view is really nice from here, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Momose peered through the window as well. Raphael had a point there, the view was lovely; with the sun shining brightly over the rest of the carnival grounds. People below hustled and bustled about as some lined up for rides while others bought cotton candy or other treats. Some children held balloons and held hands with their parents. The screams of other people were heard as a roller coaster rushed down the downward-sloping tracks. "It is nice, seeing everything from the top."

The two turned towards each other, and smiled at each other. Raphael opened his mouth to say something...

Just as Ogata interrupted suddenly on the walkie-talkie. Raphael picked it up as Ogata spoke.

"Raphael-san? Momose-san? You guys will get down soon. We're taking an hour long break, since we have to wait for the ferris wheel to get fixed, so just hang in there, okay?"

"Got it." Raphael spoke into the walkie talkie before turning to Momose. "That didn't take too long, did it?" He asked.

"It must have been only a couple minutes..." Momose trailed off. "Anyway, did you want to say something?"

Raphael shook his head. "Ah, I forgot. Sorry."

"No problem." She smiled at him cheerfully. "Do you want to come along with me for lunch?" She asked.

He nodded once. "Sure."

* * *

_"Wha-what's going on!?" Kuon exclaimed as the ferris wheel suddenly halted. _

_"Relax. I'm sure they're just getting some people off the ferris wheel..." Rick trailed off, but soon a voice blasted through the speakers._

_"Attention, everyone. The ferris wheel is expriencing technical difficulties. Please be patient, as we'll get out off the ride as soon as possible so we can fix it. Thank you." _

_Raphael, Kuon and Rick all stared at each other, horror in their eyes, before Raphael let out a high-pitched scream of pure terror._

_"Calm down!" Rick told him, putting a hand over his mouth. "Geez, are you scared of heights or something? And you're not a girl, you're a man! You shouldn't be scared of this!"_

_"I don't like heights..." Raphael trailed off lamely, before letting out a sigh. "I hope we get off soon..."_

_Kuon let out a sigh. "I have a feeling we're not going to get off the ride so soon. We're at the very top of the ferris wheel, remember? It might take some time to get the other people off before us."_

_"True." Rick admitted, running a hand through his hair. He looked at his watch, before cursing. "Crap! Tina and her other friends said that they'd meet us at the ferris wheel at 3:30!"_

_"What time is it now?" Raphael asked._

_"...2:59." Rick answered lamely. The other two let out a deep sigh. "Aw man, this is bad..."_

_"Well, it's not our fault that the ferris wheel had to break down now, is it?" Kuon spoke up. "Though it sucks that they'll have to wait for us."_

_"I'll text Tina about it." Rick spoke up, taking out his cellphone. "Hopefully she and the others won't mind waiting..."_


	9. Saturday

**_9. Saturday_**

_Raphael sighed as he drummed the counter quietly with his hands. As happy as he was with the job here at the gas station for this summer, things could get very boring, considering barely anyone came around here. _

_His boredom, however, vanished as soon as Rick and Kuon came into the shop._

_"Yo." Rick greeted Raphael. "How's the job serving you?"_

_"It's serving me boredom, thank you." Raphael muttered in response. "The last person who came in here for snacks and stuff was here about two hours ago. I've got two more hours on this shift, but after this I can join you guys later."_

_"Sounds good." Kuon responded, and he paused before continuing. "You know how you said that you've always wanted to perform something, and you weren't given the chance to for that Graduation Talent Show at school weeks ago?"_

_"Yeah." Raphael responded, sitting up. "What about it?"_

_"With Kuon's dad's help, we were able to get you a place where you can perform this upcoming Saturday at 9:00 p.m." Rick answered, placing a piece of paper with the location, date and time written on it. "It's not one of those sketchy clubs, if you're about to ask, it's actually a really nice venue."_

_"Wha-" Raphael gaped at Rick and Kuon in amazement. "How!? You guys didn't have to-"_

_"Relax already!" Rick responded with a wave of his hand. "Just get some songs ready. There's a piano at the place, so you don't have to worry, Raph. You've just got yourself a gig."_

* * *

"I should really bring you home soon." Raphael spoke quietly, in character. "I'm sure there are people out there worrying about you, and I've let you stay here for more than you need, not that I'm trying to be impolite..."

"But the stalker-" Momose, also in character, faltered for a moment before continuing. "What if he's still out there? What if..."

Raphael got up from the piano bench, and turned to face her completely. His eyes showed a gentle reassurance glowing quietly as he spoke. "I will find that stalker, and make sure he never tries to hurt you or stalk you or whatever he does. I can stick around your home for a bit maybe, but...You really, really need someone besides me to help you. That's all I know." He traced her cheek silently with one hand as he finished. "If whoever it is stalking you tries to attack you...I will protect you."

"Cut!" Ogata exclaimed, grinning. "Raphael-san, Momose-san, that was brilliant! Well done, both of you!" He turned to the other actors and crew as he continued. "Everybody, take fifteen! Next scene we'll focus on the building inspector and him discovering Momose and Raphael."

"Building inspector?" Raphael asked, curious. "Who's playing that person?"

Ogata's grin went slightly wider as he answered. "He played Katsuki in the original 'Tsukigmori' series. He used the stage name Shuuhei Hozu before, but he's changed to his real name, Kuu Hizuri. I thought he'd do an excellent job with this role, but he couldn't be here beforehand because he had some work in America."

"Kuu?" Ren asked aloud, albeit quietly. _I didn't know he was going to be here..._

Before anyone else could speak, though, the sound of clapping was heard.

"Excellent job, Barrett-san. I have to say, I'm quite impressed." A voice, completely familiar to Kyoko and Ren spoke up as a figure walked towards them. Raphael and Ren's eyes seemed to widen simultaneously, but before anyone else could say a thing, Raphael immediately ran to him.

"Mr. Hizuri!" He shouted, grinning from ear to ear as he nearly hug-tackled the older man before taking a step back as he continued excitedly. "I didn't know you were going to be here-Thank you for the compliment-I'm completely flattered!" Raphael ended, blushing a bit.

"Whoa, calm down!" Kuu Hizuri responded, laughing a little as he continued. "I didn't think I would ever cross paths with you considering where we mainly work, but I suppose I was wrong. I've seen your previous stuff, and it's _nothing _compared to this. And that's supposed to be a compliment."

"Thank you!"

Kyoko just stared at Kuu and Raphael in amazement as the two continued chatting. "I guess Raphael looks up to father as well..." She trailed off, going into 'Kuon mode' for a split second before she turned to see Maria Takareda. "Hey Maria!" She greeted her. "What are you doing here?"

"Grandfather wanted to say hello. I think he should be here by-" Maria started, but she was interrupted by a loud roar of people mimicking the noises of elephants, giraffes, zebras, and all sorts of animals one could probably find in Africa. A crowd of people ran in, dressed as said animals and running around in huge circles before launching into singing 'The Circle of Life.' Lory Takareda walked in last, dressed as what Kyoko tried to guess was Rafiki, the baboon from 'The Lion King.'

Everyone else in the room just stared in shock, with almost everyone gaping. Raphael even screamed in a high-pitch and hid behind Kuu and Ren, fearing for his life and intending to use them as shields so he wouldn't get trampled.

"Now." Maria finished lamely.

* * *

"Sir, you have got to be the most extravagant person I've ever met in existence, and I think you will forever be the most extravagant person I've met in existence..."

"Thank you, I'll take that as a compliment." Lory Takareda responded to Raphael. The two, as well as Kuu and Ren, were all at Lory Takareda's office, at around 7:00 p.m. Shooting had finished for the day a couple hours earlier, and Lory had decided the evening would be a good idea to talk about everything that had been occurring so far.

"It's been at least how many years since I've seen you, Mr. Hizuri?" Raphael spoke quietly. "Six?"

"Yes." Kuu responded quietly, before pointing at Ren at little. "Although I saw him last year while I was promoting a movie here in Japan."

"Dad, you never told me last year that Raphael ended up doing the same thing I did after I left America." Ren spoke up.

"It was something that needed to stay secret. You weren't the only one who needed help, Kuon." Kuu responded quietly as he opened up a third bag of popcorn. "Raphael would have been stuck in that darkness, too, if Lory hadn't intervened and if Raphael never ran to me for help in the first place most likely..."

"I couldn't speak for about three weeks." Raphael added quietly. "That's why I learned sign language; so I could communicate with people and not have to speak aloud. It helps my vocal chords get some rest, and it gave me a good excuse to not rush my education on Japanese language while I'm here for the shooting of 'No Need to Speak.' But mainly it was...because I wanted people to know I still had a voice, even if my vocal chords couldn't agree with me."

"Things really have changed, haven't they?" Ren finally remarked, after a moment of silence.

"Indeed." Raphael responded. "I still remember so much from the past, though; especially all the times I spent with you, and Mr. Hizuri, and...Rick. And everyone else from there, too. It was fun." Raphael fidgeted slightly in his seat, before looking up at the clock. "It's about two hours to nine this evening...It reminds me of _that_ one Saturday back then."

"You mean when you had your first gig that Rick and I booked at that one theater, with my dad's help?" Ren asked.

Raphael grinned. "Yeah. You made it the best Saturday I've had in my life."

As the two continued to converse, Kuu and Lory both exchanged glances with each other as they observed the younger men quietly. Both were glad that they seemed to be getting along well still, despite the tough times that had occurred back then. They just hoped that they would be able to overcome their personal demons.

* * *

_The crowd watched in awe as Raphael sang the final song that he had prepared, 'Piano Man' by Billy Joel._

_"This one's dedicated to my friends, Rick and Kuon, as well as Kuon's dad, Mr. Kuu Hizuri and Kuon's mom, Mrs. Juli Hizuri! It's thanks to them that I've got this venue to perform at in the first place," Raphael explained prior to the song. "And thank you to everyone here; that you came out here to watch my performance. I don't know how I can ever thank you enough, everyone! Thank you!"_

_After the song was finished, the crowd cheered, and Raphael gladly even accepted a standing ovation, before dragging Rick and Kuon onstage. The two teens awkwardly bowed, and soon after the performance was over, everyone was chatting excitedly with each other, giving compliments to Raphael and some of the people were fans of Kuu, crowding around him and talking with him, as well as taking photos and autographs. _

_An hour later, Kuu was driving Raphael home, with Rick, Kuon and Raphael in the backseats and Kuu's wife Juli in the front beside Kuu. _

_"That was awesome. You had everyone in the palm of your hands when you were performing!" Rick told Raphael._

_"Thanks." Raphael responded sheepishly with a grin. "Though it's thanks to you guys that I got to perform and stuff...Especially you, Mr. Hizuri, for paying the rent for the venue...I don't know how to repay you."_

_"There's no need for that." Juli responded, smiling at him. _

_"No, really I should-" _

_"We're here." Kuu spoke up, as the car stopped in the driveway of a house. "We're all glad that you performed well, Raphael, and that you want to share your music with everyone. Don't let go of what you love."_

_Raphael nodded as he got out of the car, with his guitar in tow. "Thank you." He responded, turning to go into the house before turning back to face them. "Can you...wait a few moments? Until I get inside the house at least?" He asked. "Just in case..."_

_Kuu gave him a nod, and Raphael turned and walked into the house._

_Moments later, a scream rose from inside the house. Kuu immediately jumped over the car door (the car was a convertible and the roof was down, and he'd just finished work in an action movie a few days ago) and started to run towards the house. "Kuon, Juli, Rick...stay here." He told them before running into the house._

_"Heck, no. Not if it involves my friends and I need to help them." Rick muttered before undoing his seatbelt and getting out of the car. "I'm going in. C'mon, Kuon!"_

_"Wait!" Juli shouted, but Kuon had already gotten out of the car, and the two teens ran into the house. Inside, in the living room, Raphael and Kuu both nearly avoided getting hit with a baseball bat, wielded by an angry, and definitely drunk man. Kuon immediately identified him as Raphael's foster father, and remembered Raphael telling him a while back that the man was an alcoholic._

_"Hey, you screw with Raphael, you screw with me!" Rick shouted, lunging at the man, and knocking the baseball bat out of his hand._

_"Stop it Rick!" Raphael exclaimed, pulling Rick's arm back before he could punch the man. "Don't, please..."_

_Rick turned towards Raphael, seeing his pleading expression. "I'm sorry..." Rick trailed off-_

_Only to get punched in the face by Raphael's foster father. Rick staggered backwards, and Raphael caught him before he could hit the ground. "We have to get out of here, now!" Kuu shouted, half-dragging Kuon and the other two teens out of the house. "C'mon!"_

_They got into the car, and Raphael was sobbing in the backseat as Juli tried to tend to Rick's injured face. Kuon found himself asking, "Where are we going?"_

_Kuu took a shaky breath before gripping the steering wheel. "Home." He muttered through gritted teeth as the car started to drive away from the house._

_No one else said a word on the way to the Hizuri's house._


	10. Truth mostly comes out

_10. Truth mostly comes out_

Momose glanced at Raphael carefully. The half-Japanese actor/musician did not seem in good spirits today. She hadn't seen him in a while, because he had work to do as a musician-he had a CD that he was recording here, in Japan. He would have done it in England, but considering the amount of work he had here in Japan for the movie, he was able to arrange things so that he could record his album in Japan instead.

Perhaps something happened during his time with his musician work? She figured it was the cause, until...

She was about to get a soda from the drink machine, when she heard her name being called.

"Momose-san?" She turned, to see none other than Raphael Barrett himself. "May I...talk to you?" He asked quietly, wringing his hands a little as he walked over to her.

"Um, sure." She responded as she grabbed her can of soda. "What is it?"

"Well..." He paused, awkwardly looking at his feet before looking up at her again. "Do you mind if I...talk to you about something personal? Is that okay?"

"Well-" Momose paused, before speaking again. "How personal is it?"

"Very." The half-Japanese actor/musician responded, shuddering slightly. "Will you be able to keep it between the two of us?"

The two made eye contact. She saw the fear in his eyes, and she saw a hint of sadness, desperate to tell someone about the trouble he was going through. She couldn't just walk out on him on something like this. Could she?

"Alright. I can do that." She paused awkwardly, brushing a lock of hair out of her face before the two walked over to a nearby table and sat opposite each other. "What's...wrong, Raphael-san?"

Raphael paused, biting his lip a little, before speaking. "I think you know I'm half-Japanese, half-British, right?" He asked.

"Yeah, I do." Momose told him quietly. "Did you grow up in Britain, if not here in Japan?"

"Well...I did, for a time." He paused again, before continuing. "I was born out of an affair between my British father and a Japanese woman. My mother left him, and soon after, and my father left me in an orphanage when I was three, because he saw me as a nuisance. I went around tons of foster parents in Britain, and then when I was fourteen, I was sent to American foster parents. They only took me in to make themselves look good to the world, but I knew their dirty little secrets inside out. My foster-mother was having an affair, and my foster-father was an alcoholic. My foster sisters were in gangs, or went around sleeping with men older than them. I was the only real 'good' child in the family, now that you think about it. It's a miracle that I didn't get corrupted."

Momose's eyes widened slightly at this. "I...I can't believe it. I can't believe that ever happened to you, Raphael. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry. It's not your fault, Itsumi-san. It's just bad luck that I happened to be with them." He pushed back a few locks of hair out of his face, before continuing. "When I was fifteen...I met two friends that changed my life. Their names were Kuon and Rick, and they were the best they could ask for. Kuon even had something in common with me-we were both half-Japanese. He and Rick treated me like a brother, after saving me from some muggers. They stuck up for me when things got bad, and tried to help me with girl problems-I was always so awkward with trying to ask out girls. They all rejected me, for some reason..."

Momose couldn't help but smile mentally to herself. Raphael, awkward at socializing with the opposite sex? It was wasn't just something that happened with just her, it was in his past, too. She admitted to herself that part of him was cute to her. Maybe it wasn't attractive to others, but she didn't mind it.

"Anyway, enough about the girls." Raphael took a deep breath, before continuing. "Kuon went through tons of the girls, because Rick thought he was too nice and let them off easy if they made him jealous, and Rick, well, he had a girlfriend and they played it steady. There's one problem with me in the mix, though."

"What was it? Did you like one of their girlfriends?"

Raphael shook his head. "No. I liked Rick."

There was a moment of silence between them as Momose let that process in her mind.

"So..." She started, confused. "...You're bisexual?"

"I suppose so." Raphael muttered quietly in response. "The girls I liked were okay, I guess-they all rejected me for muscle-bound jocks, which sucks. As for the boys...none of them caught my eye except for Rick. At _least_ I wasn't stupid enough to throw myself at him, knowing fully that he has a girlfriend."

"Well...at least that's good, right?" She tried to reassure him. "You didn't ruin your friend's relationship with his girlfriend, or ruin your friendship with him, either. I think it was good that you didn't do that."

"Yeah. That is good, I suppose. Then again, I've always tried to be a good guy. I didn't want to end up being bad." He let out a sigh. "There are too many bad people in the world, Itsumi-san. I want to be one of the good ones. Unfortunately...that derailed once I started getting involved in some fights."

Her eyes widened slightly as she heard the last statement. _So, even he got into trouble? _

Raphael averted his gaze from her as he continued, as if feeling shame about his past. "I didn't mean to. I tried to avoid them. But those guys, Momose-san, they were racist jerks. They called my half-Japanese blood _dirty,_ and tormented me every day. Kuon got the worst of it-he nearly killed some of those guys. And then...there was a time when things got bad, and..."

He suddenly went silent. Momose tried to look him in the eye, to see if he was alright. His eyes reflected something not optimistic for sure-they looked saddened, upset. She looked down, and saw his hands gesturing wildly. She tried her best to interpret as well as she could.

_"Just after the fight, Rick got hit by a car and died instantly on impact. I could have saved him-but-but he-" _He stopped gesturing for a moment, and then he finished. _"He pushed me out of the way before he got hit."_

"Oh."

_Raphael must have felt so strongly for Rick. Does he...does he blame himself for Rick's death? _

The half-Japanese actor/musician let out another sigh, shaking his head a bit. _"He saved my life. I stopped getting into fights after that. Kuon disappeared from the face of the earth-I don't know where he went or why he decided to leave. And I...I was silent for days and weeks. That's the real reason I wished to learn sign language-I wanted to speak up, even if my vocal chords disobeyed me." _He paused once more, before finishing. _"You don't have to feel pity towards me-it's okay. I've learned to move on and embrace the past a little. It's not your past that defines who you are, I think-it's what you do. And I'm okay with that."_

He smiled at her a little. She wasn't sure whether to smile back-the smile was a sad one, but definitely genuine.

She didn't expect him to speak, but he did.

"Thank you for listening, Itsumi-san. I really...appreciate it."

She smiled back at him. "I'm just glad that you told me. I promise to keep it between us. Promise." She told him quietly.

Raphael smiled at her still, but inside he wasn't too happy.

_She will never know the complete story of my past-I would need Ren's permission. I'm sorry, Itsumi Momose-san...this is all I can tell you until he overcomes his demons, too._

* * *

**Author note: And...that's basically most of Raphael's backstory. The whole thing will come out eventually, if I write a sequel fic to this. The next chapter will most likely be the last one for this fic, unless otherwise...**

**Also, I apologize for the long delay in chapter updates. I have been busy with a lot of writing (100 fanfics in one year-see profile for details) and with life outside fanfiction. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and thank you so much for your patience, reviews, favourites and alerts. Thanks.**


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